Biographical Note: B.R. Johnson worked as a daguerreotypist, ambrotypist and photographer in San Francesco, CA (c.1856-1857); Benicia, CA (1858); Oakland, CA (1860) and Petaluma, CA (c.1863-1867). In 1863 he established “Johnson’s Premium Pioneer Photographic Gallery” in Doyle’s Block Building on Main Street, Petaluma; in1864 he relocated his studio to Petaluma’s Phoenix Block and then back again to Doyle’s Block this time over the Morris Cigar Store. Johnson advertised himself as doing “First Class Work” and his studio as outfitted “in the most splendid style” featuring “the late improved frosted Lites, more generally used in the Eastern Cities.” In 1865 he studied the recent improvements in photography at the gallery of Mathew B. Brady in New York City and then returned to his Petaluma studio where he continued until at least 1867.

Bibliography: Palmquist, pgs. 325-326; Mautz, pg. 114.

THE SITTER(s):

Name(s): Unidentified Woman

Description: CDV of a woman’s bust in an oval frame. Her hair is pulled back and she is wearing an embroidered jacket.

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